July 18, 2022

"More people are cancelling their video subscriptions to save money in the face of the cost of living squeeze, with under-24s most likely to walk away...."

"Now, in a reversal of previous trends, the decline is being driven by younger audiences as they turn to free alternatives such as the BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and TikTok. Household budgets are under intense pressure, with prices rising by 9.1 per cent a year, the highest inflation rate for 40 years, and with the Bank of England warning that inflation could reach 11 per cent within months.... According to Tom Harrington, of Enders Analysis, life is only going to get tougher for the platforms because 'it isn’t just their direct competitors but every other household expense they have to worry about...."

23 comments:

rehajm said...

1. Energy costs represent nearly 1/3 of cpi since the cost flows through to the production of nearly every good or service. 2. The current administration is hell bent on cost parity of fossil fuels vs wind and solar. Parity is roughly somewhere north of $8/gallon gasoline. 3. While household spending was actually encouraging in June household savings has plunged and credit card debt is up dramatically.

Enigma said...

There's simply too much cheap and free video content today to bother. I've got more subscription content than I could possibly watch, even if on 24/7/365. Many of these don't have commercials, or one can skip the commercials.

Welcome to the information superhighway. Welcome to the inescapable decline or end of old school broadcast and subscription business models. I just need a media host and search engine these days, plus the ability to pay for the occasional "premium" movie or series.

rhhardin said...

That's a country where you need to pay for watching TV or listening to the radio, subject to huge fines.

Terry di Tufo said...

Do you have a Rich And Entitled tag?

Menahem Globus said...

I pay for HBO Max but the only thing I've watched on there in the last month is Key largo. TUBI is free, the commercials aren't irritating, and there are four to five times as many shows of interests on there than their paid competitor. It's probably time to drop HBO Max.

Breezy said...

The return of the concept of a budget? Good!

Critter said...

Where are the articles about how Biden’s energy fanaticism hurts the poor and disadvantaged the most?

Krumhorn said...

It’s not the subscriptions in my house that are the problem. It’s the cable bill for too many channels nobody here watches. That bill is four times the total of the subscriptions.

- Krumhorn

Howard said...

The woke go broke

gilbar said...

Enigma said...
I've got more subscription content than I could possibly watch, even if on 24/7/365.

Menahem Globus said...
I pay for HBO Max but the only thing I've watched on there in the last month is Key largo

And THERE is the rub, there's Plenty of stuff to watch.. and it's ALL CRAP
Every six months or so, i'll see something to watch on a service (ie HBO Max THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT)
Before half a month is up, i've finished what i've came for..
And ANYTHING ELSE i might want to watch (like Key Largo, or Pride and Prejudice); so i cancel.

IF they want me to pay money, GET BETTER STUFF!!!

gilbar said...

Krumhorn said...
It’s the cable bill

WHY do you have cable? I haven't had cable for 10 years. Get an antenna.

gilbar said...

Enigma said...
plus the ability to pay for the occasional "premium" movie or series.

sorry Enigma! i finally read your entire post, and i see i agree with you completely

tim in vermont said...

Attention span is too short for movies now.

RoseAnne said...

At the beginning of the year, I cancelled Netflix and Amazon Prime to save money. Netflix immediately offered me service at about 60% of cost. I will rejoin in December probably and then drop it again after I have seen this year's Great British Bake-off. Amazon Prime I haven't missed at all. You don't have go order much to still get free shipping and the shows that I used to watch on Prime have all run their course.

When meant I started to watch Tubi. I wish all services did commercials the way they do. They often break into the story at odd times but they are very short so it doesn't feel like an interruption. Good variety of old and new films and even some foreign films with subtitles. So far every time I have gone looking for a favorite old movie I have found it and have been able to watch it free.

Rory said...

"'it isn’t just their direct competitors but every other household expense they have to worry about...."

That's because the product of the streamers is essentially useless. Note the irony in that product being protected under law for 100 years while useful inventions are protected for only 20.

Pete said...

We cut the cable cord a couple of years ago, and we have a number of streaming app subscriptions, at a savings of $100/mo. But you know what I usually turn to first? - YouTube (the free one)!

Gusty Winds said...

I've narrowed it down to Amazon Prime video just because it comes with the membership. There are old classics, and some of the other channels with commercials, but no content cuts, that have some good movies. The new content sucks. The writing is mediocre. Characters are clichè. Or its just a remake of and idea that was already done...

Although I despise YouTube's woke censorship, the omniscient library of live performances is fantastic. It's like your own MTV.

Janice Joplin and Tom Jones jamming “Raise Your Hand” – 1969. You’d think it’s a mismatch, but the two fit together like peanut butter and jelly. Jones can keep up with her and rocks. Band is phenomenal.

Yancey Ward said...

I have been trying for a while to get my mother to drop DirectTV to save a ton of money. She watches exactly 4 channels, none of which have material you can't get on streaming for 1/10 the price she is paying for the lot. However, her inertia may well be impossible to overcome.

Vance said...

Weird Al Yankovic, in his parody of MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This" : "Can't watch this."

Partial Quote:

HBO and Playboy, Showtime and MTV
I might like 'em more after my lobotomy
Now why did I ever pay for this junk?
I hooked up eighty channels and each one stunk
Just brainless blood and guts
And mindless T&A
It's awful, it's putrid, it's crummy, it's stupid
Gonna throw my set away

I can't watch this
I can't watch this
I can't watch this
Yeah, I can't watch this
I told you, can't watch this
Too hip, can't watch this
Get me outta here, can't watch this

/End Quote.

Sees to be summing up the thread.

Michael K said...

Civilizations die by suicide. Europe and UK are giving us a preview. The Climate scam is lethal. There is time to accept reality. I wonder if the millennium generation is capable of it?

n.n said...

Free alternatives including: BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and TikTok, as in shared responsibility, as in shifted responsibility, as in obfuscated costs, as in environmental arbitrage, perchance labor arbitrage and actual slavery. Feel better.

Rabel said...

"WHY do you have cable?"

The Comcast cable box/DVR.

Nothing else that I have seen comes close to giving me the control over the video that I have with my old box.

Change my mind!

Because it's expensive.

Paddy O said...

Ravel, if you have good OTA reception I highly recommend getting a Tablo Receiver and DVR.